REDMOND , Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft 's headquarters be funded with $ 11 million from the federal stimulus package ?

An artist 's rendering shows how the proposed bridge would be constructed over a busy highway .

Critics of using stimulus money for the bridge say it would give the software giant a break on a pet project . They also say it serves as a warning sign of how some stimulus money is not being used to finance new projects but is being diverted to public works already under way .

Supporters argue the bridge is an ideal public-private partnership that will benefit an entire community while fulfilling the stimulus package 's goal of getting people back to work .

`` It 's going create just under 400 jobs for 18 months constructing the bridge , '' says Redmond Mayor John Marchione . `` It 's also connecting our technical sector with our retail and commercial sectors so people can cross the freeway to shop and help traffic flow . '' See a larger image of the proposed bridge ''

Marchione applied for federal stimulus money after costs jumped on the project from $ 25 million to $ 36 million . Marchione says the increase in costs were due to a rise in construction prices and because the bridge will be built on a diagonal in order to connect Microsoft 's original East campus with a newer West campus that are split by a public highway .

Microsoft is hardly getting the bridge for free . The company is contributing $ 17.5 million or a little less than half the tab of the $ 36 million bridge , which would be open for public use .

And even though the bridge goes from a parking lot behind Microsoft 's West campus across a highway to an entrance of Microsoft 's East campus , Marchione says , people other than Microsoft employees would use the overpass .

`` We 're not a one-company town , '' Marchione says . `` Our traffic studies show that Microsoft traffic would be about 42 percent of the bridge , yet Microsoft is paying for about 50 percent of the bridge , so we think we are getting fair value .

`` The United States taxpayer is leveraging their dollars , and I think everyone is getting a fair deal . ''

But a watchdog group monitoring how stimulus money is being spent says the taxpayer in this case is getting ripped off .

`` This is $ 11 million where we are substituting public money for private money , and that means there 's some other project that would have a greater benefit than a bridge to Microsoft that 's not being built , '' says Steve Ellis , vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense .

But without the stimulus money , Marchione counters , the bridge may not have been built . Microsoft had `` capped out '' its contribution to the project , he explains . And the economic tough times have affected even the biggest companies . `` Microsoft laid off 5,000 people in January , '' Marchione points out .

Ellis does n't buy it .

`` Let 's face it . Microsoft is one of the most lucrative companies in the country , '' Ellis says . `` They could have easily funded this out of pocket change . This is really about getting while the getting is good . Uncle Sam has a big wallet that 's there for the taking , and Redmond wanted to take it -- and Microsoft was happy to let them pick up that part of the tab . ''

Microsoft did not respond to CNN requests for an interview on the bridge project . But in a posting online , Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote : `` As the largest employer in Redmond , Microsoft takes its responsibility to the surrounding community seriously . We have spent over $ 50 million to assist the City of Redmond and other local governments with street construction , transit facilities , water and sewer facilities and fire equipment . ''

Last week , Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire certified 138 projects , including the bridge , to receive stimulus funding . Construction is expected to begin in June .

Michael Ennis of the Washington Policy Center , a Seattle-based not-for-profit group that advises policy makers , said there are many reasons the bridge project is a good one .

`` Any time you can include the private sector in funding transportation projects , it 's a win-win situation , '' Ennis explains . `` The state has a monopoly on our roads system . Even if Microsoft wanted to pay for this project on their own , legally they are required to work with the public sector . ''

But Ennis also says the bridge does not fit with the kind of projects the stimulus plan is meant to bankroll .

`` This project would have moved forward regardless of having the federal money or not , so it does n't have any additional benefit to the economy , '' he says .

As he pedaled on his bicycle to work , one Microsoft employee saw the issue in much simpler terms . `` It 's going to cut about two miles off my ride each day , '' he said .

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Project would build bridge between Microsoft 's two campuses

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Microsoft paying for about half of the $ 36 million project

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Mayor backs plan , says bridge will benefit entire community

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Taxpayer watchdog group says project a good example of waste